Patrick Beverley Criticizes NBA For Lack of Communication About Potential Return

At this point, it seems the NBA will definitely return sometime in the near future. Whether or not that's the correct decision is one many will struggle with as efforts to do so ramp up, but after the league officially entered into talks with Disney to resume play on their grounds and surveys were sent to teams about possible playoff formats, it's a matter of when, not if.

The NBA itself, however, has been rather quiet about what a return might look like from every angle. The only official word from the league in that regard was their statement that they were indeed engaging in talks with Disney. Otherwise, information about the various formats the league is considering has come from media insiders, and nobody knows exactly what the NBA is considering to ensure the players and staff stay as safe as possible in taking the enormous risk to play basketball again while coronavirus remains a very real threat.

Patrick Beverley went on SportsCenter on Wednesday night to express his frustration over that lack of clarity with Scott Van Pelt. Beverley explained he still doesn't feel comfortable going into the Clippers' facility, and probably won't until things felt something resembling normal. He does want to get back on the court to play real games as soon as he can, though. SVP pointed out it may be a while yet until anything feels normal, and asked what it would take for Beverley to feel secure about resuming play in a full capacity. Beverley had a simple answer: communication.

"Communication. That's it. It's just sad we got to hear about things happening in our workplace and stuff like that via Twitter. It's good, it's entertaining, it's fun, but just want more communication. Let us know. Don't just string us along, man. If the NBA is starting, if the NBA is finished, just let us know. I challenge the NBA."

Adrian Wojnarowski addressed these comments on Get Up this morning and summed it all up by saying the league is pushing any final decisions to the last possible minute in order to ensure those decisions are as well-informed as possible. Not rushing into anything is obviously the best attitude to have right now, but it's easy to understand the frustration on the players' behalf. Right now, they're just like the rest of us, waiting for information to leak and trying to create a full picture without knowing most of the details.

The difference, obviously, is that this is their job, whereas it's just a matter of personal interest (or a slight intersection between interest and livelihood) for the rest of us. The NBA is going to be as careful as possible about the information they disseminate because of the extraordinarily sensitive nature of every aspect involved in a potential return. But there's a line to be walked between being careful and keeping your employees in the loop. Beverley clearly doesn't think there's been enough of an effort there.